Phillies pitching prospect Jesse Biddle has had a tough two years, dealing with the whooping cough as well as a concussion as a result of being hit by hail. The hail destroyed Biddle’s car, imagine what it could do to one’s skull.

Biddle began to struggle in June last season as a result of concussion-related issues. He was specifically diagnosed with a concussion, as CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury reports. The Phillies shut him down for a while to give him a “mental break”. Interestingly, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. seemed to downplay Biddle’s injury. From Salisbury’s column:

Amaro this week acknowledged that Biddle had “concussion symptoms,” but added, “I don’t know if it was a full-blown concussion.” He went on to say, “That wasn’t the reason we gave him the break.”

It seems neither Biddle nor his doctor shared Amaro’s wishy-washiness about the injury. “I believe with the way it lines up, I was concussed and I was pitching with a concussion,” Biddle said. “I saw a concussion specialist and he said I had a concussion.”

The comment is perplexing because Amaro trashed his own prospect for no good reason. He gave off the impression that Biddle is mentally fragile as opposed to having been hampered by a physical ailment. Furthermore, Amaro perpetuates the non-serious way in which many teams and sports leagues in general approach concussions, though many strides have been made in this area recently.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)